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{{Short description|American baseball player (1880–1925)}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Christy Mathewson
|image=Christy-Mathewson-1910.jpeg
|caption=Mathewson in 1910
|position=[[Pitcher]]
|birth_date={{birth date|1880|8|12}}
|birth_place=[[Factoryville, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1925|10|7|1880|8|12}}
|death_place=[[Saranac Lake, New York]], U.S.
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=July 17
|debutyear=1900
|debutteam=New York Giants
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 4
|finalyear=1916
|finalteam=Cincinnati Reds
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]
|stat1value=373–188
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value=2.13
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=2,502
|stat4label=Managerial record
|stat4value=164–176
|stat5label=Winning %
|stat5value=.482
|teams='''As player'''
* [[New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]] ({{mlby|1900}}–{{mlby|1916}})
* [[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{mlby|1916}})
'''As manager'''
* [[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{mlby|1916}}–{{mlby|1918}})
'''As coach'''
* [[New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]] ({{mlby|1919}}–{{mlby|1921}})
|highlights=
* 2× [[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1905}}, {{wsy|1921}})
* 2× [[Triple Crown (baseball)|Triple Crown]] (1905, 1908)
* 4× [[List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders|NL wins leader]] (1905, 1907, 1908, 1910)
* 5× [[List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders|NL ERA leader]] (1905, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1913)
* 5× [[List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders|NL strikeout leader]] (1903–1905, 1907, 1908)
* Pitched two [[no-hitter]]s
* [[San Francisco Giants#Retired numbers|Name honored]] by the Giants
* [[Major League Baseball All-Century Team]]
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
|hofdate=[[1936 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1936]]
|hofvote=90.7% (first ballot)
|module= {{Infobox Canadian Football League biography|embed=yes
|name                 = 
|nickname             = 
|team                 =
|image                =
|image_size           =
|alt                  =
|caption              =
|status               =
|import               =
|position1            = [[Fullback (American football)|Fullback]]
|position2            =
|position3            =
|position4            =
|position5            =
|birth_date           =
|birth_place          =
|death_date           =
|death_place          =
|number               =
|College              = [[Bucknell Bison football|Bucknell]]
|CIS                  =
|amateur_title        =
|amateur_team         =
|high_school          = [[Keystone College|Keystone Academy]]
|Height_ft            =
|Height_in            =
|Weight_lbs           =
|hand                 =
|pass_style           =
|playing_years1        = 1898
|playing_team1        = [[Greensburg Athletic Association|Greensburg A. A.]]
|playing_years2        = 1902
|playing_team2        = [[Pittsburgh Stars]]
|career_highlights    = 
* Pittsburgh Stars 1902 Championship team
<!--Military service-->
|module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
|allegiance           = {{flagicon|United States}} United States
|branch               = [[File:United States Department of the Army Seal.svg|20px|United States Army seal]] [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]
|serviceyears         = 1918–1919
|rank                 = [[File:US-O3 insignia.svg|20px]] [[Captain (US Army)|Captain]]
|unit                 = '''[[Chemical Warfare Service]]'''<br />[[1st Gas Regiment]]
|battles              = '''World War I'''
*[[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] {{DOW}}
|awards               =
|signature = File:Christy Mathewson signature.svg
}}}}}}

'''Christopher Mathewson''' (August 12, 1880 – October 7, 1925), nicknamed "'''Big Six'''," "'''the Christian Gentleman'''," "'''Matty'''," and "'''the Gentleman's Hurler'''," was an American professional [[baseball]] [[pitcher]] who played 17 seasons in [[Major League Baseball]] for the [[New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]]. He stood {{height|ft=6|in=1}} tall and weighed {{convert|195|lb|kg}}. He was among the most dominant pitchers in baseball history, and ranks in the all-time top 10 in several key pitching categories, including [[List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders|wins]], [[List of Major League Baseball career shutout leaders|shutouts]], and [[List of Major League Baseball career ERA leaders|earned run average]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Major League Leaders - Pitching |url=https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=y&type=0&season=2025&month=0&season1=1871&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&players=0&sortcol=2&sortdir=default&pagenum=1 |work=[[FanGraphs]]}}</ref> In 1936, Mathewson was elected into the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]] as one of its [[1936 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|first five]] members.

Mathewson grew up in [[Factoryville, Pennsylvania]], and began playing semiprofessional baseball when he was 14 years old. He played in the minor leagues in 1899, recording a record of 21 wins and two losses. He pitched for the Giants the next season, but was sent back to the minors. He eventually returned to the Giants and went on to win a [[National League (baseball)|National League]] record 373 career games, tying [[Grover Cleveland Alexander]] for the third-most career wins of all time. He led the Giants to the franchise's first World Series championship in [[1905 World Series|1905]] by pitching a single World Series record three [[shutout#Baseball|shutouts]]. He also holds the record for career shutouts in the World Series, with four.<ref>{{Cite web |title=All-time and Single-Season World Series Pitching Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/WS_pitching.shtml |access-date=2025-07-10 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> Mathewson never [[Sunday baseball games|pitched on Sundays]], owing to his devout [[Christianity|Christian]] beliefs. Mathewson served in the [[United States Army]]'s [[Chemical Corps|Chemical Warfare Service]] in World War I, and was accidentally exposed to [[chemical weapon]]s during training. His respiratory system was weakened from the exposure, causing him to contract [[tuberculosis]], from which he died in [[Saranac Lake, New York]] in 1925.

==Early life==
Christopher Mathewson was born on August 12, 1880, in [[Factoryville, Pennsylvania]], and he attended high school at [[Keystone College|Keystone Academy]].

==College career==
He attended college at [[Bucknell University]], where he served as class president and played on the school's [[American football|football]], [[basketball]], and [[baseball]] teams.<ref name="historicbaseball">{{cite web|title=Christy Mathewson|publisher=HistoricBaseball.com|url=http://www.historicbaseball.com/players/m/mathewson_christy.html|access-date=October 28, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515091612/http://www.historicbaseball.com/players/m/mathewson_christy.html|archive-date=May 15, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Mathewson was also a member of the [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity]] of [[Phi Gamma Delta]].<ref name="famousfijis">{{cite web|title=Christy Mathewson|publisher=Phigam.org|url=http://www.phigam.org/famousFijis.aspx?famid=57&pageid=96|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194847/http://www.phigam.org/famousFijis.aspx?famid=57&pageid=96|archive-date=September 27, 2007|access-date=March 16, 2007}}</ref> His first experience of semi-professional baseball came in 1895, when he was 14 years old.<ref name="kashatus27">Kashatus, William C. (2002). ''Diamonds in the Coalfields: 21 Remarkable Baseball Players, Managers, and Umpires from Northeast Pennsylvania''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company., p. 27.</ref> The manager of the Factoryville ball club asked Mathewson to pitch in a game with a rival team in Mill City, Pennsylvania.<ref name="kashatus27" /> Mathewson helped his hometown team to a 19–17 victory, but with his batting rather than his pitching.<ref name="kashatus27" /> He continued to play baseball during his years at Bucknell, pitching for minor league teams in [[Honesdale, Pennsylvania|Honesdale]] and [[Meridian, Pennsylvania|Meridian]], Pennsylvania.<ref name="kashatus33">Kashatus, William C. (2002). ''Diamonds in the Coalfields: 21 Remarkable Baseball Players, Managers, and Umpires from Northeast Pennsylvania''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company., p. 33.</ref> Mathewson was selected to the [[Walter Camp]] All-American football team in 1900. He was a [[Drop kick|drop-kicker]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=Fred |date=1958-12-22 |title=Little-Known Fact About Matty |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/nashville-banner-little-known-fact-about/158492745/ |access-date=2024-11-05 |work=Nashville Banner |page=35 |publication-place=Nashville, Tennessee |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

==Professional football career==
Mathewson played [[American football|football]] at Keystone Academy from 1895 to 1897.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 3, 2018 |title=Keystone Adds Football as 22nd Varsity Sport |url=https://www.gokcgiants.com/news/2017/12/21/keystone-adds-football-as-22nd-varsity-sport.aspx |access-date=March 1, 2022 |website=[[Keystone_College#Athletics|Keystone College Athletics]]}}</ref> He turned pro in 1898, appearing as a [[Fullback (American football)|fullback]] with the [[Greensburg Athletic Association]].<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=The National Pastime|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]|location=Cleveland, Ohio|volume=14|access-date=August 15, 2012|url=http://research.sabr.org/journals/files/SABR-National_Pastime-14.pdf|pages=97–98|title=Hall-of-Famers on the Early Gridiron|last=Goodwin|first=Stew|isbn=0-910137-56-0|date=Summer 1994}}</ref> While a member of the New York Giants, Mathewson played fullback for the [[Pittsburgh Stars]] of the [[National Football League (1902)|first National Football League]]. However, Mathewson disappeared from the team in the middle of the team's [[1902 Pittsburgh Stars season|1902 season]]. Some historians speculate that the Giants got word that their star pitcher was risking his baseball career for the Stars and ordered him to stop, while others feel that the Stars' coach, [[Willis Richardson (American football)|Willis Richardson]], got rid of Mathewson because he felt that, since the fullback's [[Punt (gridiron football)|punting skills]] were hardly used, he could replace him with a local player, Shirley Ellis.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Dave Berry and the Philadelphia Story |journal=Coffin Corner |publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association |volume=2 |issue=Annual |year=1980 |pages=1–9 |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/02-An-053.pdf |first=Bob |last=Carroll |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127040523/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/02-An-053.pdf |archive-date=November 27, 2010  }}</ref>

==Professional baseball career==
===Minor leagues===
[[File:Christy Mathewson, New York NL (baseball) (LOC).jpg|thumb|left|Mathewson warming up as a [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giant]] in 1910]]
In 1899, Mathewson signed to play professional baseball with [[Taunton Herrings]] of the [[New England League]], where he finished with a record of 2–13. The next season, he moved on to play on the [[Norfolk Phenoms]] of the [[Virginia League (1900)|Virginia League]]. He finished that season with a 20–2 record.<ref name="baseballlibrary">{{cite web|title=Christy Mathewson|publisher=baseballbiography.com|url=https://baseballbiography.com/christy-mathewson-1878|access-date=October 28, 2006}}</ref> He continued to attend Bucknell during that time.

===New York Giants (1900–1916)===
In July 1900, the New York Giants purchased his contract from Norfolk for $1,500 ({{Inflation|US|1500|1899|r=-3|fmt=eq}}).<ref name="baseballlibrary" /><ref name="br" /> Between July and September 1900, Mathewson appeared in six games for the Giants. He started one of those games and compiled a 0–3 record. Displeased with his performance, the Giants returned him to Norfolk and demanded their money back.<ref name="baseballlibrary" /> Later that month, the [[Cincinnati Reds]] picked up Mathewson off the Norfolk roster. On December 15, 1900, the Reds quickly traded Mathewson back to the Giants for [[Amos Rusie]].<ref name="br">{{cite web|title=Christy Mathewson|website=Baseball-Reference.com |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mathech01.shtml|access-date=January 31, 2007}}</ref>

[[File:Mathewson in NY uniform.jpg|thumb|Mathewson in his New York Giants uniform]]
During his 17-year career, Mathewson won 373 games and lost 188 for a .665 winning percentage. His career [[earned run average]] of 2.13 and 79 career [[shutout#Baseball|shutouts]] are among the best all time for pitchers, and his 373 [[win (baseball)|wins]] are still number one in the National League, tied with [[Grover Cleveland Alexander]]. He employed a good fastball, outstanding control, and, especially a new pitch he termed the "fadeaway" (later known in baseball as the "[[screwball]]"), which he learned from teammate [[Dave Williams (1900s pitcher)|Dave Williams]] in 1898.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=James |first1=Bill |author-link1=Bill James |title=The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers |title-link=The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers |last2=Neyer |first2=Rob |author-link2=Rob Neyer |year=2004 |page=296 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

This reference is challenged by Ken Burns documentary ''[[Baseball (TV series)|Baseball]]'' in which it is stated that Mathewson learned his "fadeaway" from [[Rube Foster]] when New York Giants manager [[John McGraw]] quietly hired Rube to show the Giants bullpen what he knew. Many baseball historians{{who?|date=June 2025}} consider this story apocryphal.

Mathewson recorded 2,507 career [[strikeout]]s against only 848 [[base on balls|walks]]. He is famous for his 25 pitching duels with [[Mordecai Brown|Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown]], who won 13 of the duels against Mathewson's 11, with one no-decision.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://baseballbiography.com/christy-mathewson-1878|title=''Christy Mathewson Biography''|publisher=baseballbiography.com|date=September 4, 1916|access-date=April 3, 2009}}</ref>

Mathewson was a very good-hitting pitcher in his major league career, posting a .215 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] with 151 [[run (baseball)|runs]], seven [[home runs]], and 167 [[runs batted in]]. In 10 of his 17 years in the majors, he had at least 10 runs batted in, with a season-high of 20 in 1903. He batted .281 (9-for-32) in 11 World Series games.

By 1903, Mathewson's stature was such that when he briefly signed a contract with the [[Baltimore Orioles|St. Louis Browns]] of the American League, he was thought to be the spark the Browns needed to win the pennant. The Browns had finished a strong second in 1902, five games behind the [[Oakland Athletics|Philadelphia Athletics]]. They offered him four times what he was making with the Giants. However, as part of the settlement that ended the two-year war between the American and National Leagues, Mathewson and Browns owner [[Robert Hedges (baseball)|Robert Lee Hedges]] tore up the contract. Hedges later said that ensuring the return of peace to the game was more important, even if it meant effectively giving up a pennant.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/topic/st-louis-browns-team-ownership-history/|title=St. Louis Browns team ownership history|author1=Dennis Pajot|author2=Greg Erion|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]|date=October 2, 2018}}</ref>

From 1900 to 1904, Mathewson established himself as a premier pitcher. Posting low earned run averages and winning nearly 100 games, Mathewson helped lead the Giants to their first National League title in 1903, and a berth in [[1903 World Series|first World Series]]. Though no World Series was held in 1904, the Giants captured the pennant, prompting McGraw to proclaim them as the best team in the world.

Mathewson strove even harder in 1905. After switching to catcher, [[Roger Bresnahan]] had begun collaborating with Mathewson, whose advanced memory of hitter weaknesses paved the way for a historic season. Pinpoint control guided Mathewson's pitches to Bresnahan's glove. In 338 innings, Mathewson walked only 64 batters. He shut out opposing teams eight times, pitching entire games in brief 90-minute sessions. Besides winning 31 games, Mathewson recorded an earned run average of 1.28 and 206 strikeouts. He led the National League in all three categories, earning him the [[Major League Baseball Triple Crown|Triple Crown]].<ref name="RRBio">{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Ray|title=Matty : an American hero|url=https://archive.org/details/mattyamericanher0000robi|url-access=registration|year=1994|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-509263-9}}</ref>

Mathewson's Giants won the [[1905 World Series]] over the [[Philadelphia Athletics]]. Mathewson was the starting pitcher in game one, and pitched a four-hit [[shutouts in baseball|shutout]] for the victory. Three days later, with the series tied 1–1, he pitched another four-hit shutout. Then, two days later in game five, he threw a six-hit shutout to clinch the series for the Giants. In a span of only six days, Mathewson had pitched three complete games without allowing a run, while giving up only 14 hits.

The next year, Mathewson lost much of his edge, owing to an early-season diagnosis of [[diphtheria]]. McGraw pulled over 260 innings from him, but these were plagued with struggle. Though he maintained a 22–12 record, his 2.97 earned run average was well above the league average of 2.62. His 1.271 [[walks plus hits per innings pitched]], quite uncharacteristic of him, was due to an increased number of hits and walks.

[[File:Christy Mathewson 1913.jpg|thumb|left|Mathewson with the Giants, {{circa}} 1913]]
By 1908, Mathewson was back on top as the league's elite pitcher. Winning the most games of his career, 37, coupled with a 1.43 earned run average and 259 strikeouts, he claimed a second triple crown. He also led the league in starts, innings pitched, complete games, and shutouts, and held hitters to an exceptionally low 0.827 walks plus hits per innings pitched. He even led the league in saves, racking up 5 of them in 12 relief appearances. Unfortunately, the Giants were unable to take home the pennant due to what was ultimately known as [[Merkle's Boner]], an incident that cost the Giants a crucial game against the Chicago Cubs, who eventually defeated the Giants in the standings by one game.

Mathewson returned for an outstanding 1909 season; though not as dominant as the previous year, he posted a better earned run average (1.14), and a record of 25–6. He repeated a strong performance in 1910 and then again in 1911, when the Giants captured their first pennant since 1905. The Giants ultimately lost the [[1911 World Series]] to the Philadelphia Athletics, the same team they had defeated for the 1905 championship. Mathewson and [[Rube Marquard]] allowed two game-winning home runs to Hall of Famer [[Home Run Baker|Frank Baker]], earning him the nickname, "Home Run".<ref name="RRBio" /> Mathewson, the team's "star pitcher", signed a three-year contract with the Giants in late 1910, for the upcoming 1911, 1912 and 1913 seasons, the first time he had signed a contract over a year in length.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Matty Signs up for Three Years |url=http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn85054113/1910-11-15/ed-1/seq-7/ |work=The Ogdensburg Journal |location=Ogdensburg, NY |date=November 15, 1910 |access-date=October 16, 2019 }}</ref>

In 1912, Mathewson gave another stellar performance. Capturing the pennant, the Giants were fueled by the stolen-base game and a superior pitching staff capped by Rube Marquard, the "11,000-dollar lemon" who turned around to win 26 games, 19 of them consecutively. In the [[1912 World Series]], the Giants faced the Boston Red Sox, the 1904 American League pennant winners who would have faced the Giants in the World Series that year had one been played. Though Mathewson threw three complete games and maintained an earned run average below 1.00, numerous errors by the Giants, including a lazy popup dropped by Fred Snodgrass in the eighth game (Game 2 was a tie), cost them the championship.<ref>{{cite book|last=Vaccaro|first=Mike|title=First Fall Classic|url=https://archive.org/details/firstfallclassic00mike|url-access=registration|year=2009|publisher=Doubleday|location=New York|isbn=9780385526241}}</ref> The Giants also lost the [[1913 World Series]], a 101-win season cemented by Mathewson's final brilliant season on the mound: a league-leading 2.06 earned run average in over 300 innings pitched complemented by 0.6 bases on balls per nine innings pitched.

For the remainder of his career with the Giants, Mathewson began to struggle. Soon, the former champions fell into decline. In 1915, Mathewson's penultimate season in New York, the Giants were the worst team in the National League standings. Mathewson, who had expressed interest in serving as a manager, wound up with a three-year deal to manage the Cincinnati Reds effective July 21, 1916.<ref name="RRBio" />

==Managerial career==
===Cincinnati Reds (1916–1918)===
[[File:1904 Christy Mathewson-restore.jpg|thumb|Mathewson in 1904]]
On July 20, 1916, Mathewson's career came full circle when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds along with [[Edd Roush]]. He was immediately named as the Reds' [[player-manager (baseball)|player-manager]]. However, for all intents and purposes, his playing career was over. He appeared in only one game as a pitcher for the Reds, on September 4, 1916. He faced Brown in the second half of a doubleheader, which was billed as the final meeting between the two old baseball warriors. The high-scoring game was a win for Mathewson's Reds over Brown's Cubs, 10–8.<ref name="Okrent">{{cite book |last1=Okrent |first1=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Okrent |title=The Ultimate Baseball Book |date=1988 |publisher=Hilltown Press |isbn=0395361451 |location=United States |pages=80}}</ref>

Mathewson retired as a player after the season and managed the Reds for the entire 1917 season and the first 118 games of 1918, compiling a total record of 164–176 as a manager.<ref name="Okrent" />

==Personal life and literary career==
Mathewson married Jane Stoughton (1880–1967) in 1903. Their only son, Christopher Jr., was born shortly after. [[Christy Mathewson Jr.]] served in World War II, and died in an explosion at his home in Texas on August 16, 1950.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 17, 1950 |title=Mathewson's Son Is Fatally Burned – Christy Jr. Dies After Blast in Texas Home – Won Health After Air Crash Injuries |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/08/17/archives/mathewsons-son-is-fatally-burned-victim-of-blast.html |access-date=19 January 2022 |work=The New York Times |page=17}}</ref> During Mathewson's playing years, the family lived in a duplex on the [[Upper West Side]], at [[Ninth Avenue (Manhattan)|Columbus]] and [[85th Street (Manhattan)|85th]],<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Giants Among Men |date=August 25, 2003 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/2003/08/25/giants-among-men-exactly-100-years-ago-christy-mathewson-and-john-mcgraw-rescued-the-woeful-new-york-giants-and-helped-make-baseball-the-true-national-pastime }}</ref> alongside Mathewson's manager John McGraw and his wife Blanche. Mathewson and McGraw remained friends for the rest of their lives. In the 1909 offseason, Christy Mathewson's younger brother Nicholas Mathewson died by suicide in a neighbor's barn. Another brother, [[Henry Mathewson]], pitched briefly for the Giants before dying of tuberculosis in 1917.

[[File:Christy and Jane Mathewson photograph, circa 1916.png|thumb|left|Mathewson and his wife Jane, c. 1916]]
Mathewson was highly regarded in the baseball world during his lifetime. As he was a clean-cut, intellectual collegiate, his rise to fame brought a better name to the typical ballplayer, who usually spent his time gambling, boozing, or womanizing. As noted in ''The National League Story'' (1961) by [[Lee Allen (baseball)|Lee Allen]], Mathewson was a devout Christian and never pitched on Sunday, a promise he made to his mother that brought him popularity among the more religious New York fans and earned him the nickname "The Christian Gentleman". However, the impact of this practice on the Giants was minimized, since, in the eight-team National League, only the [[Chicago Cubs]] ([[Illinois]]), [[Cincinnati Reds]] ([[Ohio]]), and [[St. Louis Cardinals]] ([[Missouri]]) played home games in states that allowed professional sports on Sunday.

In his free time, Mathewson enjoyed nature walks, reading, golf, and checkers, of which he was a renowned champion player. The combination of athletic skill and intellectual hobbies made him a favorite for many fans, even those opposed to the Giants. Sportswriters praised him, and in his prime every game he started began with deafening cheers. Sometimes, the distraction prompted him to walk out 10 minutes after his fielders took the field. Mathewson soon became the unspoken captain of the Giants.

He was the only player to whom John McGraw ever gave full discretion. McGraw told many younger players to watch and listen to his wisdom.

Mathewson garnered respect throughout the baseball world as a pitcher of great sportsmanship. He was often asked to write columns concerning upcoming games. In 1912, with the editing and ghostwriting aid of sportswriter John Wheeler, Mathewson published his classic memoir ''Pitching in a Pinch, or Pitching from the Inside'', which was admired by poet [[Marianne Moore]] and is still in print.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Pitching in a pinch, or, Baseball from the inside|last=Mathewson|first=Christy|date=1994|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|others=Greenberg, Eric Rolfe; Wheeler, John N.|isbn=9780803282124|location=Lincoln|oclc=29430072}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Shulman |first=Grace |date=November 30, 1986 |title=A Gusto for Dumbo and Balanchine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/30/books/a-gusto-for-dumbo-and-balanchine.html |access-date=February 22, 2018 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Years later, Mathewson co-wrote a mildly successful play called ''The Girl and The Pennant'', which was inspired by [[Helene Hathaway Britton]]'s ownership of the [[St. Louis Cardinals]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://baseballhall.org/discover/going-deep/christy-mathewson-helene-britton-and-theater|title=Christy Mathewson, Helene Britton and the theater|website=Baseball Hall of Fame|access-date=March 1, 2022}}</ref> Mathewson went on to pursue more literary endeavors ending in 1917 with a children's book called ''Second Base Sloan''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Second Base Sloan|url=https://archive.org/details/secondbasesloan00math_0|last=Mathewson|first=Christy|publisher=Dodd, Meade & Co.|year=1917|location=New York}}</ref>

One of the journalists to unmask the 1919 [[Black Sox Scandal|Black Sox]], [[Hugh Fullerton]], consulted Mathewson for information about baseball gambling. Fullerton trusted Mathewson for his writing intellect, as well as his unbiased standpoint. As a player and manager, Mathewson also had several seasons of experience playing alongside [[Hal Chase]], a veteran major league player widely rumored to have been involved in several gambling incidents and attempts to fix games.

Representing the only former ballplayer among the group of investigating journalists, Mathewson played a small role in Fullerton's exposure of the [[1919 World Series]] scandal.<ref name="RRBio" />

==World War I and afterward==
Late in the 1918 season, Mathewson enlisted in the [[United States Army]] during World War I. His wife Jane was very much opposed to the decision, but Mathewson insisted on going.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hartley|first=Michael|title=Christy Mathewson: a biography|year=2004|publisher=McFarland & Co.|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-1653-0}}</ref> He served overseas as a captain in the newly formed [[Chemical Corps|Chemical Warfare Service]] (CWS) along with [[Ty Cobb]]. Mathewson served with the [[American Expeditionary Forces]] until February 1919 and was discharged later that month.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers, Sailors and Marines, World War 1917-18|publisher = Ohio Adjutant-General's Department|year = 1926|location = Columbus, Ohio|pages = 10886}}</ref>

Mathewson developed [[tuberculosis]] shortly after his military service. It was widely assumed his disease was caused by his work with chemical weapons, largely due to the conventional wisdom that tuberculosis more easily infects lungs that have been damaged by [[Chemical weapons in World War I|these gases]].<ref name="historicbaseball" /> This narrative was given further credence from a passage in [[Al Stump]]'s 1961 biography of Ty Cobb, which says that Cobb and Mathewson were both accidentally gassed during a chemical training exercise in Choignes, France where eight men died; Mathewson purportedly told Cobb afterwards that he had 'got a good dose of that stuff. I feel terrible.'<ref>{{cite web |title=Did Baseball Great Christy Mathewson Die of Chemical Warfare? |url=https://insidesources.com/did-baseball-great-christy-mathewson-die-of-chemical-warfare/ |website=Inside Sources |access-date=13 January 2025 |date=24 October 2018}}</ref> This account has widely been accepted as true, although it is not without its detractors: [[Branch Rickey]], who also served in the CWS alongside Mathewson, flatly denied the incident; other historians have noted that Stump's book, published after Cobb's death, is sensationalized and generally unreliable.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Leeke |first1=Jim |title=The Gas and Flame Men: Baseball and the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I |date=2024 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |pages=124–29}}</ref> Further, some historians question whether the incident ever occurred. Mathewson himself never mentioned a training accident during his lifetime, but acknowledged that he had been exposed to potentially lethal gases on various occasions while demonstrating gas shells to students: "We were careful, but there is no doubt the accumulated gases affected my lungs," he later said.<ref>Leeke, p. 127</ref>

Although he returned to serve as a coach for the Giants from 1919 to 1921, he spent a good portion of that time in [[Saranac Lake, New York|Saranac Lake]] fighting the tuberculosis, initially at the [[Trudeau Sanitorium]], and later in a house that he had built.<ref name="baseballlibrary" /> In 1923, Mathewson returned to professional baseball when Giants attorney [[Emil Fuchs (baseball)|Emil Fuchs]] and he put together a syndicate that bought the [[Boston Braves]]. Although initial plans called for Mathewson to be principal owner and team president, his health had deteriorated so much that he could perform only nominal duties. He turned over the presidency to Fuchs after the season.

==Death and legacy==
[[File:The Christy Mathewson Cottage.jpg|thumb|Mathewson's private "[[Cure Cottages of Saranac Lake|cure cottage]]" in Saranac Lake]]
[[File:ChristyMathewsonGraveStone.jpg|thumb|Mathewson's gravesite at [[Lewisburg Cemetery]] in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania]]
After contracting tuberculosis, Mathewson moved to the frigid climate of [[Saranac Lake, New York]], in the [[Adirondack Mountains]], where he sought treatment from [[Edward Livingston Trudeau]] at his renowned [[Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium]]. He died in Saranac Lake of tuberculosis on October 7, 1925. Mathewson is buried at [[Lewisburg Cemetery]] in [[Lewisburg, Pennsylvania]], adjacent to [[Bucknell University]]. Members of the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] and the [[Washington Senators (1901–1960)|Washington Senators]] wore black armbands during the [[1925 World Series]]. Mathewson had died on the day the series began, October 7. According to ''[[Baseball (TV series)|Baseball]]'', some of Mathewson's last words were to his wife: "Now Jane, I want you to go outside and have yourself a good cry. Don't make it a long one; this can't be helped."
* [[Factoryville, Pennsylvania#Christy Mathewson Day|Christy Mathewson Day]] is celebrated as a holiday in his hometown of Factoryville, Pennsylvania, on the Saturday closest to his birthday.
* Christy Mathewson Day and Factoryville, Pennsylvania, are the subjects of the documentary, ''Christy Mathewson Day''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christymathewsondayfilm.com |title=Christy Mathewson Day |publisher=23circles Productions |year=2011 |access-date=November 25, 2013}}</ref>
* Bucknell's football stadium is named "[[Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium]]".
* The baseball field at [[Keystone College]] is named "Christy Mathewson Field".
* Christy Mathewson Park in Factoryville is home to the community's [[Little League]] field, as well as basketball courts and other athletic facilities, public gardens, walking trails, and a picnic pavilion.
* The former Whittenton Ballfield in [[Taunton, Massachusetts]], is named in memory of Christy Mathewson, who played for the Taunton team in the New England Baseball League before he joined the New York Giants.
* Mathewson is mentioned in the poem "[[Line-Up for Yesterday]]" by [[Ogden Nash]]. It says of Christy “M is for Matty, Who carried a charm  In the form of an extra  brain in his arm”
*F. Scott Fitzgerald refers to Christy Mathewson in his first novel, ''[[This Side of Paradise]]'' (1920).<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Fitzgerald|first1=F. Scott|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZslGpJEmE0C&q=Three-finger+Brown|title=This Side of Paradise|last2=West|first2=James L. W.|date=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-40234-7|language=en}}</ref>
* Jazz pianist [[Dave Frishberg]], composer of several baseball-themed songs, wrote one called "Matty" for Mathewson.
* Mathewson is a central character in Eric Rolfe Greenberg's historical novel ''The Celebrant'',<ref>{{cite book|last1=Greenberg|first1=Eric Rolfe|title=The Celebrant: A Novel|date=1983|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln|isbn=978-0-8032-7037-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/celebrantnovel00gree}}</ref> which chronicles turn-of-the-century American life by weaving together Mathewson's story with the life of an immigrant Jewish family in New York. In 2002, the book was selected as one of the top 100 sports books of all time by ''[[Sports Illustrated]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McEntegart |first1=Pete |title=The Top 100 Sports Books of All Time |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/2002/12/16/the-top-100-sports-books-of-all-time |access-date=July 4, 2017 |newspaper=[[Sports Illustrated]]}}</ref>
* Mathewson's name and memory was honored in the last lines in the 1951 film, ''[[Angels in the Outfield (1951 film)|Angels in the Outfield]]''.

==Baseball honors==

* In 1936, Mathewson was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its first five inductees, along with [[Babe Ruth]], [[Ty Cobb]], [[Walter Johnson]], and [[Honus Wagner]]. He was the only one of the five to be inducted posthumously.<ref name="kashatus120">Kashatus, William C. (2002). Diamonds in the Coalfields: 21 Remarkable Baseball Players, Managers, and Umpires from Northeast Pennsylvania. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, p. 120.</ref>
{{MLBBioHon
|Image  = SFGiants NY Mathewson.png
|Name   = Christy Mathewson
|Team   = San Francisco Giants
|Year   = 1986
}}
* His jersey, denoted as "NY", was retired by the Giants in 1986<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/giants-retired-numbers-c300002862 |title=Giants' all-time retired numbers |last=Haft |first=Chris |date=March 11, 2019 |website=[[MLB.com]] |publisher= |access-date=June 8, 2021 |quote=}}</ref> and hangs in the left-field corner of [[Oracle Park]]. Uniform numbers were not used during the time when Mathewson played for the Giants.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/san-francisco-giants-to-retire-will-clarks-no-22-jersey/ |title=San Francisco Giants to retire Will Clark's No. 22 jersey |last=Kassel |first=Ethan |date=August 11, 2019 |website=[[San Francisco Examiner]] |publisher= |access-date=June 8, 2021 |quote=}}</ref>
* In 1999, he ranked number seven on ''[[The Sporting News]]''{{'}} list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking National League pitcher.
* [[ESPN]] selected his pitching performance in the [[1905 World Series]] as the greatest playoff performance of all time.<ref>{{cite web |date=2006 |title=50 Greatest Playoff Performances |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/playoffs2006/greatest50?index=1 |access-date=2024-11-05 |work=ESPN}}</ref>
* During World War II, a {{Convert|422|ft|m|adj=on}} [[Liberty ship]] named in his honor, USS ''Christy Mathewson'', was built in Richmond, California, in 1943.
* His plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame says: "Greatest of all of the great pitchers in the 20th century's first quarter" and ends with the statement: "Matty was master of them all"

==Filmography==
(''compiled per IMDb''){{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=November 2024}}
*''Christy Mathewson and the New York National League Team'' (1907) 
*''Athletics vs. Giants in the World's Championship Baseball Series of 1911'' (1911)
*''[[Breaking into the Big League]]'' (1913)
*''The Giants-White Sox Tour'' (1914) 
*''The Universal Boy'' (1914) 
*''Love and Baseball'' (1914) 
*''Matty's Decision'' (1915) 
*''Animated Weekly, No.16'' (1916) 
*''Animated Weekly, No.31'' (1916)
*''The Baseball Revue of 1917'' (1917)

== Works ==

* ''Won in the Ninth'' (1910)
* ''Pitching in a Pinch; or, Baseball from the Inside'' (1912)
* ''Pitcher Pollock'' (1914)
* ''Catcher Craig'' (1915)
* ''First Base Faulkner'' (1916) 
* ''Second Base Sloan'' (1917)
* {{Cite magazine |last= |first= |date=May 1911 |title='Outguessing' the Batter |url=https://archive.org/details/OutguessingTheBatter |access-date=2024-11-05 |magazine=[[Pearson's Magazine]] |pages=568–575 |volume=25 |issue=5}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
{{Quote box |width= 18em |border= 4px |align= right |bgcolor= #FAF0E6 |qalign= center |title=''Line-Up for Yesterday''|quote=''M is for Matty,''<br />''Who carried a charm''<br />''In the form of an extra''<br />''brain in his arm.''
|source= — [[Ogden Nash]], [[Sport (US magazine)|''Sport'' magazine]] (January 1949)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_line.shtml |title=Line-Up For Yesterday by Ogden Nash |access-date=2008-08-20 |work=[[Ogden Nash]] |publisher=Sport Magazine}}</ref>}}
* [[List of Major League Baseball career ERA leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career FIP leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball no-hitters]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball player-managers]]
* [[Major League Baseball titles leaders]]
* [[Triple Crown (baseball)|Major League Baseball Triple Crown]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite journal|title=Dave Berry and the Philadelphia Story |journal=Coffin Corner |publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association |volume=2 |issue=Annual |year=1980 |pages=1–9 |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/02-An-053.pdf |first=Bob |last=Carroll |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127040523/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/02-An-053.pdf |archive-date=November 27, 2010  }}
* {{Cite book |last=Gaines |first=Bob |title=Christy Mathewson, the Christian Gentleman |date=2014-11-20 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-3315-7}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCnbhSRZpgIC|title=Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football|first=Robert W.|last=Peterson|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1997|isbn=9780195353303}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{bbhof|mathewson-christy}}
*{{baseballstats|mlb=118422|espn=24735|br=m/mathech01|fangraphs=1008235|brm=mathew001chr}}
*{{baseball-reference manager|mathech01}}
*[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/christy-mathewson/ SABR Christy Mathewson biography]
*{{IMDb name|0558737}}

===Personal works===
*{{Gutenberg author | id=36313| name=Christy Mathewson}}
*{{Internet Archive author |sname=Christy Mathewson}}
*{{Librivox author |id=9765}}


{{S-start}}
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{{s-bef|before= [[Noodles Hahn]]<br />[[Jesse Tannehill]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Major League Baseball no-hitters|No-hitter pitcher]]|years=July 15, 1901<br />June 13, 1905}}
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